Tentatively...
Myths are stories that (among other things) contain information about heropaths - they have greater or lesser degrees of accuracy, but are essentially 'roadmaps' for a particular heroquest. Myths are cult secrets, and their tiniest details are the key to success or failure.
Experimental heroquesting is difficult, and even the concept is a fairly close secret, according to an ancient talk by Greg on the subject. The Lunars are fairly accomplished at it - though I think they leave it to the specialists. The Orlanthi seem to lost most of their knowledge of experimental heroquesting at the end of the First Age, after Arkat (the experimental pioneer) swapped sides the once too often. Experimental questing is being rediscovered of course - by player groups, by Kallyr, by Bryan - and will be a big part of the Hero Wars.
Think of a heroquest as a path through a landscape, with certain views and encounters. Arkat's trick, according to Greg, was that in undertaking quests from a variety of different cultic perspectives, he came to recognise similar views and encounters that had a structural congruency - an underlying similarity. He also began to recognise that such were heroquest 'crossroads'. These encounters or locales, even if seemingly insignificant, were common to several quests. A sufficiently knowledgeable, brave (and if Orlanthi, thick) heroquester might change paths at these points. jumping from one myth to another with unexpected results.
So an enterprising Lunar quester might begin on a well known quest in which say, a hero follows a mythic storypath to gain a blessing of Ernalda (or surrogate earth Goddess), but at the crossroads jumps onto a fresh path that actually leads to a meeting with, and boon from, a moon goddess.
Apart from the actual boon, the quester, if they survive, will have a new myth in which the moon goddess replaces Ernalda. As the myth spreads, more conventional questers can walk the path blazed by experiment: it becomes more fixed and easy to follow (at least relatively - nothing about heropaths is easy). Easier the path, more frequent the retelling of the myth.
Over time, if the new myth replaces the old, then the culture will 'always' have had access to the moon's blessing, not by any actual historical recasting but because of the rewriting of the past so common to all religious traditions.
How's that for a start?
John
snake,a bride's bed talk, a broken sword, the play of bears,
a king's son.
Havamal 86.
>Secondly, if he succeeds in pulling off these changes, what sort of
>effect would it have on the people who were (unknowingly) helping to
>support this ritual? Would they realize that the changes were actually
>changes or would they think that it was how it always had been?
>
>Also how much support would be needed to change the entire cultures
>view of the presence (or lack) of a Moon Goddes?
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>Any suggestions or ideas?
>
>J.
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